Breakfast TV weather reporter Laura Tobin made her track driving
debut at Brands Hatch yesterday (Tuesday), when she took a lesson
in how to drive like James Bond with stunt driver Ben Collins for a
Good Morning Britain feature.

Ben, who is famous for his role as Top Gear's Stig, is also
known for his stunt driving, which includes recent Bond movies.
Taking to the wheel of an Aston Martin Vanquish, he demonstrated
some of the techniques of performance driving before swapping seats
with Laura.

"It was incredible," Laura said. "It was my first time in a fast
car going round a track with a racing driver. Each time I learnt
more about the bends, braking, having confidence accelerating, so I
think I have a need for speed now."

Laura was also highly impressed
by the challenge offered by the Brands Hatch Indy circuit:
"You've got the freedom here to go and do whatever you want and
actually you can't be fearful; you have to just go for it, and
although I've never driven faster in my life, I've never felt
safer."

Ben, who combines stunt driving with racing
sportscars, added: "Laura was brilliant. To jump from a Skoda
[Laura's daily drive] into an Aston Martin with 575
horsepower is quite a bit of an ask, but she took to it really
well, we got some good speeds up and she was doing things in the
right order that you would expect of a budding racing driver, so
good on her.

"I still regularly go out on track, I
was racing in the World Endurance Championship last year, but you
cannot top a circuit like Brands Hatch, it's one of the best in the
world. It's got all the character of an old school circuit and even
the Indy track, which is short but what you get in that space is
incredible; uphill and down dale throughout the course, especially
the famous Paddock Hill. I love coming here, and I've always loved
it since I raced in Formula 3 and got a pole position here on the
Grand Prix circuit, so it's a fantastic place to come to."